National Coal agrees to end surface mining efforts in Tennessee

Company reaches court settlement

National Coal LLC, a formerly Knoxville-based company, has agreed to end its surface mining activities in Tennessee as part of a court settlement with environmental groups.

In an agreement filed in U.S. District Court in Knoxville, National Coal will stop mining at its Zeb mine and Mine 14 properties in Campbell County within the next 90 days. National Coal also agreed to pay penalties of up to $60,000 on alleged mining pollution discharge violations at its Jordan Ridge coal refuse disposal site in Scott County.

The West Virginia-based company has agreed to not seek new surface mining permits, to come into compliance with permit limits, to pay penalties for past permit violations and to take other actions.

“I think in a lot of ways this is a great victory for Tennessee and Appalachia as we continue to show that when coal companies engage in polluting practices, they are the ones who have to pay the costs,” said Sean Sarah, regional communications manager for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign.

The agreement effectively ends National Coal’s involvement in surface mining in Appalachia, the environmental groups said in a statement Wednesday. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the Tennessee chapter of the Sierra Club, Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment and the Tennessee Clean Water Network.

W. Blaine Early III, an attorney for National Coal, said his client did not want to comment on the agreement.

“Their view is that all relevant information is in the document,” he said. “The only thing they would like to say is that they are glad to have this resolved.”

Early said no mining is currently taking place at the sites. The agreement provides the certainty that National Coal needs to proceed with reclaiming them, he said.

National Coal was based in Knoxville until it was bought in 2010 by Ranger Energy Investments LLC, a company controlled by West Virginia coal magnate James C. Justice II.